Reader Forum | 12/31/2008 10:09 am

2009 New Year's Predictions Open Thread

What do you think the new year will hold for yourselves? Our country? Our world?

Read more about: 2009, New Year's, Predictions, Reader Forum

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if our new president coordinates and leads well, we have hope of renewing our electric grid and maybe our schools coming out of this crisis, using the crisis as a call to all to do your share.

By mary lou s on 12/31/2008 10:50 am

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I hope you are correct, but his Ed pick for schools does not sit well with me. Too much test prep mentality. If schools are to be judged that way, I have to tell you that a child with a passing test score has little correlation to his education. I have had many students pass these tests and still not be able to meet basic standards. Yet we are forced to pass them along to the next grade for political reasons.

By Brooklyn Gal on 12/31/2008 12:04 pm

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Yes, teaching to tests is no way to cultivate curiosity in native intelligence and to inspire continuous pursuit of knowledge in and out of school. There are great teachers out there, but also a lot of teachers who are just showing up for their paychecks and pensions. I hope our culture can begin to foster a new attitude towards education, one that includes a higher regard for the incredibly important work teachers do, rewarding excellence and accomplishment as in the corporate sector — rather than being satisfied with minimal “by the book” standards.

By Susan B on 01/01/2009 2:30 pm

Susan, I would hate to think there are “a lot” of teachers out there just collecting paychecks. Yes, I have worked with teachers who I didn’t respect, but they are not in the large numbers anti-media reports make them out to be. There are just as many principals that shouldn’t be in charge of schools, and I know there are plenty of them. We will lose a generation of creative thinkers if this testing trend continues. This is why I am not a fan of Michelle Rhee. Nor am I a fan of the so called flow-charts that marks each minute of the daily agenda. It can interfere with a “teachable moment”. I have incorporated the Reading/Writing Workshop method into my classroom, but did not follow the exact architecture of those lessons. A structured 10-minute mini-lesson sometimes does not always apply. Teachers have to know their students and adapt the materials to their needs. That is also why I hate Direct Instruction. I read many teacher blogs daily, and if the general public only knew the obstacles teachers face each and every day, they will not be so quick to judge. So many teachers are reaching out through their blogs to help solve problems that should be an administrators job—excessive absences, lateness, discipline, poor facilities, etc. all have a bearing on the outcome of a standardized test. That is why I am so against Mayor Bloomberg who believes in “seat credit”. What kind of standard is that??? Then there are the principals who change teachers grades so they can get a bonus or refuse to file incident reports so there school does not receive a lower rating. I am still shocked that Obama did not pick an educator for the cabinet position. Lawyers just don’t get it. Rhee who only taught 3 years and was a failure her first year just doesn’t get it.

By Brooklyn Gal on 01/01/2009 6:13 pm

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Brooklyn, I have to agree with you about Obama’s pick. And I hope I didn’t offend you and your profession with my comment about the bad teachers. I have a 16 year old, and although we’re fortunate to live in a “good” school district, every year she seems to get at least one teacher with a checked-out frame of mind. This year, it is her chemistry teacher, which really distresses me because I was hoping she’d have a much better learning experience with that subject. She’s doing OK grade-wise, but there’s no real interest or spark there, and she spends a lot of energy trying to play the teacher’s win game rather than immerse herself in the subject. Her friends with other chem teachers seem to be enjoying themselves more. In high school, the kids’ attention is already spread pretty thin, and sometimes you only get one chance to engage them in a subject. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. What you report about principals doesn’t surprise me. I am thinking of pursuing a teaching credential and becoming a HS history teacher, and I always read your posts with great interest. After 2 decades working in the corporate world (advertising/mass comm), I hope I can offer a valuable “real life” perspective in the understanding of history (which is one of my great passions), but that could be so much idealism on my part. I’ll see how it goes this year. My sister in law became a HS English teacher two years ago, and I have watched her move through many stages of inspiration and disillusion to arrive at a place where she’s starting to “get it” and engage her students. She’s told me score of stories I hope I can learn from.

By Susan B on 01/01/2009 7:58 pm

Brooklyn and Susan Great conversation. I know about those goofy principals, when you get a lousy one at your school, it is a drag, and they don’t want to help the kids that much either. I took a couple of HSers to the snow today and they were complaining about a history teacher. They said that all he does is give them worksheets and then sits at his desk and does other work. Many of the teachers my kid has are also PE teachers and it seems when there are budget cuts the PE teachers stay on so the sports programs continue, then the actual history or math instructors are let go. THat kind of bothers me. My son was doing great in his algebra2 class and then he started with a new teacher, and he just doesn’t quite understand this guy. The teacher may know his subject, but it isn’t getting across to my son. I am having him repeat it next semester with a different teacher and tutors twice a week before he gets too lost. I do not like the new testing quotas. They are stupid. There are a lot of young and energetic kids straight out of college that will go and teach in the inner city in schools where kids can barely read, and if those schools don’t reach a certain level of test scores, money is denied. That is so stupid. I think those young teachers should be paid twice as much, and the schools should be given everything they need to be successful. It is appalling. Since So Cal is so connected with the movie business, the special effects industry has sponsored community college programs. I am not sure of the status of those programs anymore, but looked into them a long time ago for a nephew. Anyway, the special effects and animation departments were hiring kids out of college and the kids were not up to speed on the new technology because the colleges couldn’t upgrade all the time, so they contracted with the colleges and they sponsor the equipment and teach many of the courses. This saves money on both ends because the colleges have wonderful courses with state of the art tech, and industry does not have to retrain new staff when they come in. I know that Santa Monica City College used to do that, I am not sure about CalArts, but Disney contracts with them and has sponsored them. There are others as well. Or they can start there and then get accepted at USC Film school that has just opened up a new wing. Okay okay, or UCLA. So I think it goes both ways with running it like a business. I just think it depends on which business. Susan, I think it is marvelous that you want to be a HS teacher. Good for you.

By Frannie Em on 01/02/2009 2:57 am

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This comment was removed by the request of management.

By Jim Henley on 01/02/2009 1:36 pm

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Sorry I did not rely to you sooner, but my alerts were turned off. I discovered this when I saw someone else had replied to me on another thread. The disillusionment is due to Hollywood. They make movies about teachers that made a difference. And what do they show—small-class sizes, good working conditions, books and materials. Where are the holes in the walls, the roaches, the facets that don’t work, the broken desks and chairs or not enough desks? If you can rent it, get season 4 of The Wire. Fox also had a good show called Boston Public (season 1 is still the best). I also posted below on another reply blogs I visit. When you walk into your classroom on the first day and realize that administrators are not there to assist you and you are on your own, you need to learn the ropes fast. College doesn’t prepare you for this. I agree that a good teacher needs to also be a good communicator. If you know the subject but don’t know how to impart that knowledge, you will fail. I was lucky that I started teaching when all standardized tests were given in May. It gave me almost a full year to prepare the students without the pressure of test prep. Lessons could be creative and out-of-the-box. Now these tests are giving in November and January. Math is usually given in March. (I am speaking of elementary schools—not HSs) . And don’t believe this BS about raising the standards. Standards were only raised “on paper”. Politicians have found ways to alter grades and promotional standards that you never read in the newspapers. Yes, social promotion still exists even if a mayor says he did away with it. It’s called junking the stats. If Obama really wants to succeed, he needs to get all parents to make education a priority in the household. This idea of a longer school day or year will not cut it if both students and parents treat school like a babysitting service and nothing more.

By Brooklyn Gal on 01/04/2009 12:55 pm

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Brooklyn, Thank you for your thoughts and for sharing your wisdom about the educational system as you know it. I’m going to save your post in hard copy and keep it in a folder for future reference. I think I may need it! I hope my decades in advertising, where I developed and presented creative concepts, and explained market strategy and ideas to skeptical, lazy or change-resistant clients, will serve me well as a teacher. And I’m very accustomed to not getting support for my work by the administrative folks and the numbers people. Some paradigms cross all professions, it would seem!

By Susan B on 01/04/2009 1:46 pm

You have the perfect background for teaching. What grade level do you teach because your creative nature would make you a natural on the elementary level?

By Brooklyn Gal on 01/04/2009 3:21 pm

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I’m considering middle or high school. I like children, but can’t imagine spending an entire day with a room-full of them! :-) But now that I think of it, how is that any different from the time I spent with co-workers in the corporate world! :-D

By Susan B on 01/04/2009 5:45 pm

I agree too, loathe the emphasis on testing….boys don’t test well and creates robots not creatives. Re academics who just collect paychecks. I was at UCLA, UCSF, Stanford, SFSU and from my experience 90% are extremely dedicated….may not think they are all equal as educators but do think so in their dedication. And proud of my youngest sister who left what was headed in the direction of a lucrative fashion career to get her MA and become a school psychologist in a very bad area. She drives over two hrs a day to get there and has for over 5 years. She buys things out of pocket to help ‘her’ inner city kids saying that she is the only thing that stands between many of them and the street, prison or death. And she puts on fundraisers by having the kids put on musicals/plays etc [she did a lot of acting/singing in school..very good singer] and also to build their self-esteem/presence/sense of discipline and deadlines etc….she doesn’t have her own children but three teenaged step-daughters and is super dedicated to her kids at school. But if any fail to toe the line….they get one more chance and then she stops helping because there is such overwhelming need that she can’t afford to waste time on the kids who won’t work….the kids that do she goes overboard to get them all the help she can so they can succeed. I think she’s a real hero.

By Ann Coulter Crazy, Souless, Evil B*tch on 01/02/2009 12:42 pm

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Brooklyn Gal, would you be so kind as to share some of those blog addresses with me? I’m very interested in reading about the problems teachers face, from K-12 and beyond, as well as in adult literacy. I would appreciate the info so much. ??

By rocky rocky on 01/04/2009 10:56 am

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While I am partial to NYC blogs, many of them have links to other education blogs around the country. Every few weeks Eduwonks runs something called Carnival of Education which highlights one post from education blogs. Understand that many of these blogs also highlights the lives of the blogger. If you are a teacher, you can appreciate both the personal and professional lives of these bloggers. But these are the first 3 I visit on a regular basis. http://nyceducator.com/ (check his links on the right-hand side…he has links to other teachers around the country) He also covers political issues too. http://pissedoffteacher.blogspot.com http://missmalarkey.blogspot.com/ Let me know what you think. They accept comments from all political persuasions, but like here, expect a reply. Also look into some of their archives.

By Brooklyn Gal on 01/04/2009 12:22 pm